


pennywise and the circus clowns

by wisterispidey



Series: irondad bingo: halloween edition [20]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, i am SO srry bby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 06:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21266645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisterispidey/pseuds/wisterispidey
Summary: Peter couldn’t stop shaking, something was so so wrong and it was his fault, all he wanted was to hang out with Mr. Stark today and now they were probably going to be skewered by wannabe Pennywise and his friends.(bingo prompt: trope: horror)





	pennywise and the circus clowns

**Author's Note:**

> YO pete dude i am SO sorry i hurt you like this man

“Hey, Mr. Stark?” Peter glanced over to Mr. Stark. 

Peter was pretty sure he was replying to his business emails after Ms. Potts gave him a look that reminded him eerily of May’s when he didn’t clean his room after a week.

Basically, it was really scary.

“Yeah kiddo?” Tony looked up from the tablet, his usual soft smile reserved for only Peter on—Rhodey said he was whipped and Tony thought he was an idiot.

He wasn’t whipped, Spider-Baby was just a good kid.

“Can we do an escape room this weekend?” Peter asked, hands tossing his web cartridge back and forth.

Tony nodded, already having FRIDAY pull up the best escape rooms and nearest bookings for this weekend, “Of course, kid.”

Peter grinned, softly thanking him before scribbling something on his homework.

“Do you think we could beat someone’s record, Mr. Stark?”

“Beat someone’s—of course kid, there’s a kid genius right there,” Tony pointed over at Peter, “and moi, billionaire, genius, philanthropist and mentor to a spider who’s a little shit.” 

Peter rolled his eyes, but no one could miss his proud smile.

“Sure Mr. Stark, I’ll tell Ms. Potts if you get scared or something.”

Tony threw a wad of paper at the kid, sending him a halfhearted glare.  
__

When they saw Tony Stark had booked a time for the escape room, they were already counting their money—Boss would be happy and they would be _rich._

A gnarled hand dialed the phone, crooked fingers shaking as they impatiently waited for the call to go through.

A ring—and a gravelly voice answered, “Hello?”

“You won’t believe it, Boss.”  
__

When Peter saw the escape room, something immediately felt wrong, but he brushed it off as his Spidey Sense messing with his Peter Anxiety more than usual.

Besides, he’d feel bad for wasting Mr. Stark’s money, no matter how many times he insisted it was okay.

“You ready to kick ass, kid?”

Peter nodded, glaring when Mr. Stark ruffled his hair.

“Mr. Stark, you’re gonna ruin my hair!”

Tony stared at him pointedly, “Kid, if anything I did your hair a favor.”

“You—okay this is proof that Ms. Potts is superior, she wouldn’t have dissed me like this.”

Tony rolled his eyes, an arm around Peter’s shoulders as they walked through the entrance, a few other people following behind them.

Peter didn’t think Mr. Stark’s disguise of sunglasses and a baseball cap would actually work in public but so far no one had said anything about Tony Stark so mission accomplished.

A man appeared from the hallway, dressed sharply in a three piece suit, with pitch black sunglasses concealing his face.

“Hello, all,” he greeted, voice thick with an accent Peter couldn’t place.

A couple murmured replies sounded from the few people as the man continued to introduce himself.

Peter was pretty sure the man’s name was Jason but he kinda tuned out after the man rattled on about the complexity of escape rooms for five minutes.

“Follow the rules, yada yada, have fun,” the man left with a wave of his gnarled hand and Peter shuddered, _creepy._

Beside him, he heard Mr. Stark snort muttering something about _snobby people, at least I wasn’t that bad._

“Alright, kiddie, let’s go,” Tony urged, finding their assigned room.

Peter followed, his Spidey Sense flaring so much it _hurt._ As soon as the pair stepped inside the room, they were followed by a soft click of the lock as the door shut behind them.

A group of clowns—Peter was pretty sure there were ten of them—stepped out from the shadows, and one of them was definitely going for a Pennywise inspired look. 

In an instant, both heroes stood defensively by each other, easily falling to the stances they had practiced multiple times before.

Tony held out his hand, gauntlet already forming on his wrist. Peter cursed himself for not bringing his webshooters—he’d have to rely on his strength and instincts this time.

“Hey, what do you and your circus want?” Mr. Stark called out, and maybe Peter would’ve laughed if it weren’t for the fact that one of them had a knife pointed right at Mr. Stark.

“Nothing in particular, Stark,” sneered the leader clown, “just the little _insect.”_

Peter’s blood froze—one, spiders were _arachnids_, how hard was that to figure out and two, the fact that they knew he was Spider-Man was a big no no.

A sharp intake of breath, and Peter heard Mr. Stark grit his teeth.

“Leave the kid, out of this,” he hissed, pushing Peter behind him, blatantly ignoring his cry of protest.

And as much as Peter loved Mr. Stark, it was _his_ fault for getting them into this, why hadn’t he just suggested a haunted house instead of an escape room?

“Hey, Pennywise,” he quipped, and wow, this was why he hated clowns, “who’s your ringleader, because they just ruined my weekend—I want a refund.”

Tony loved the kid, he really did but was he fucking crazy?

“Enough fools,” a clown with a bright blue wig hissed, Tony decided the clown was gonna be named Smurf.

He heard a clap, the light of his repulsor flickering out—of course they’d bring an EMP, it was always the EMP.

Man, all Peter wanted to do today was hang out with Mr. Stark, and now they were probably gonna get skewered by wannabe Pennywise and his friends.

“Peter look out!” Tony yelled, and he looked around just in time to see a large cloud of something—gas? powder? drugs?—fly in his face.  
__

_Mangled hands reached out towards his exposed throat, cracked and bruised nails latching deep into his skin._

_Peter clawed at the bloody hands, but they were too tight, choking off each breath of air he could manage._

_He tried to say something, anything, but his attempts were futile, all he could do was stay pinned to the cold, hard floor digging into his back._

_His lungs burned for air, and he managed a gasp for before he was hit with black._

_Peter couldn’t see anything, a bag thrown over his head, its fabric too rough and itchy against his skin._

_”Peter, Petey, Pete,” a voice whispered, and Peter nearly cried, that sounded too much like Mr. Stark._

_He yelped when he felt a knife slide jaggedly across his leg, fiery, hot blood dripping down his leg._

_”No one’s gonna save you here,” the same voice cackled—but that couldn’t be Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark would never do that._

_Another agonizing cut across his leg, a swift puncture to his stomach._

_His cries mixed with his tears, the rusty smell of blood and sweat was so strong he could taste it in his mouth._

The room was blank, all white walls—there was no other color but white, empty except for the person in the far corner.

_“Hello?” Peter called out hesitantly, fear rooting him to the ground as the person whipped towards him._

_Peter couldn’t distinguish their face well enough, or maybe it was because he couldn’t—it might’ve been too much for him to handle._

_A bloodcurdling scream erupted from them and Peter dropped down in shock, clutching to his ears tightly._

_Stop, stop he just wanted all of this to stop._

_The screaming stopped, his heart beating furiously inside his chest was the only thing he heard._

_He opened his eyes to the sight of the warehouse, panic soaring when he realized the ceiling was falling again._

_But be couldn’t move, no matter how much he tried, he just fucking couldn’t._

_No one loves you enough to save you, Peter._

_Give up._

_ You’re over._  
__

Tony remembered seeing red before attacking every one of those bastards with his bare hands.

They might’ve disabled his repulsor but they never planned for a newer prototype version of his arc reactor—the nanotech based one he and Peter had been working on this week.

“I told you, don’t fucking touch him,” Tony spat, “and you still did.”

“Please, don’t I—“ 

Tony shot down Smurf with his repulsor, grim satisfaction ran through him as the man fell to his knees, out cold to the world.

He turned to the others, who all backed away into a corner as he stared angrily at them.

Tony had them tied together within minutes, preventing any of them from escaping.

He glared at them, absolute loathing burning in his eyes, “Names and details, _now._ Try anything and you’ll end up like your buddy over there.”

Tony had FRIDAY call the police and record their statements before rushing over to Peter again.

He was moving, thrashing around on the ground, hands clawing for his neck and Tony tried yanking them away but he was too damn strong.

“FRI? Baby girl, what’s happening to Pete?” he asked.

“Inhalation of the drug has seemed to induce nightmares, Boss,” she replied firmly, but even Tony could hear how scared she was.

“Peter? Pete come on, it’s Tony,” he pleaded, “wake up buddy, I need you awake, _please.”_

Tony tried his best to calm Peter down but nothing seemed to work, and he whipped towards the people who had done _this_ to his kid.

“What does the drug do?” he asked through gritted his teeth.

One of the clowns still had the nerve to smile and Tony had to hold him back from shooting his stupid smile away.

“He’ll be stuck like that for a bit,” he sneered, “guess the Invincible Iron Man isn’t that strong, is he?”

Tony fired a blast at him, completing knocking him out—he deserved that one.

He waited, time seemed to stretch forever until Peter’s eyes started fluttering open again.

Tony’s heart jumped as he leaned forward, throwing his arms around Peter, he was _awake._

“Pete, holy shit, you scared me,” Tony murmured, “look at me, let me those Bambi eyes, kiddo.”

Peter stared at him, eyes bloodshot and shining with unshed tears in them.

He looked down at his legs—there were no more stab wounds, his hands weren’t bloody and cracked, and there was no falling building.

But he couldn’t shake himself from crying, not when Mr. Stark was right there and that’d mean he’d be okay, he’d be _safe_

“Mr. Stark,” he croaked, “I’m scared, I don’t know anymore.”

Each time he closed his eyes, he could still feel the metallic stench of blood in his mouth, the gnarled, mangled hands on his throat.

And Tony didn’t know what Peter had seen—but he knew he would help Peter get better, even if it was bit by no t.

“It’s alright, kid,” he pressed a kiss to his head, “I’m here now, we’ll be okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated!
> 
> reviews and criticism are appreciated as well.
> 
> thank you so much for reading <3000


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